Archival libraries: specialist libraries combining working practices from documentation centres and public libraries

Archival libraries have a remit to conserve documents of an administrative or historical nature while making them available for users and researchers. They offer print resources about the archival holdings and local history. Their remit and the categories of documentation they hold – grey literature, official publications, specialist journals, and so on – bring them in line with specialist documentation centres, while they also have much in common with the work of librarians and archivists: developing holdings, drawing up inventories, and collecting the majority of documents.
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